“Jani, he is a goal-scorer,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “He’s scored at the American League level. We're looking forward to having him score at the National Hockey League level on a consistent basis.”
Nyman is still working on that, though. Playing mostly a fourth-line role with Seattle, he has seven goals while averaging 11:28 in ice time in 43 NHL games over the past three seasons. He has no points and has averaged 9:40 in ice time in three games this season.
To earn a bigger role, Nyman must improve his play away from the puck. Lambert believes he is making strides in that area.
“We've worked with Jani on defensive play and things like that, positioning,” Lambert said. “Back in North America, I've said a number of times this year that Jani is much further ahead with his game, in my opinion, this year at this time than I was at this point in time last year, just with his overall 200-foot game. So, there's certainly a lot of progress there.”
Hyman understands he is going through a process that many players experience when they try to make the jump to the NHL. Sometimes it just takes time.
“It's probably always sort of a question mark with a young player how the game changes when you move up levels,” he said. “Of course, it can be a little challenging, but you just have to do your best and do what is needed in that moment.”
What the Kraken need from Nyman at this moment is solid two-way play in the limited minutes he receives. Adapting to that role after playing big minutes in an offensive role in the AHL can be difficult, but he is learning on the fly.
“Last season was the same in many ways,” Nyman said. “I had a big role in the AHL, I played (power play) and scored goals. And when I played here, I was a fourth-liner and didn't get that many minutes. I just try to focus on things I can do something about and do the little things well, take care of them and trust the process so that I would get the big minutes someday here.”
